Abstract
The present paper investigates the use of the discourse marker “well,” one of the expressions that evoke emotive rather than referential functions. Taking a discourse-pragmatic approach, this study examines the functions of well as a discourse marker in selected spoken discourse of Philippine English. This paper investigates the functions and frequency of the discourse marker well in various speech event categories set in a dialogue and monologue environments. The data for the analysis have been selected from the International Corpus of English – Philippines (ICE-PHI). Also, the study focuses on the spoken component of the ICE-PH, which is one of the least studied dimensions of Philippine English. Further, it employs both quantitative and qualitative analyses while applying the suggested classification proposed by Ran (2003) and Jucker (1993). This study claims that the discourse marker well has several discourse-pragmatic functions in various speaking contexts, including 1) initiating utterance; 2) indicating the speaker's hesitancy; 3) mitigating various Face Threatening Acts; 4) correcting one's utterance; and 5) changing or shifting the current topic, based on 346 cases of well in four different spoken types.
Highlights
Speakers frequently employ a number of signals as tactics for implementing successful communication in communication, in spoken contact
14.74% of the discourse markers (DMs) were employed as a frame marker, and 7.23% corresponds as a mitigation marker, leaving the remaining 6.07% for repair marker as a pragmatic function
The frequency of usage of DM "well" in Philippine English spoken discourse is consistent with Hellerman and Vergun's (2007) study of bilingual adult English learners, which found that students who use more discourse markers are more acculturated to the United States
Summary
Speakers frequently employ a number of signals as tactics for implementing successful communication in communication, in spoken contact. Discourse markers (DMs) as defined by Schiffrin (1987) are among the linguistics signals that are sequentially dependent features that bracket units of speech. Discourse markers like ‘but’, ‘and’, ‘so’, ‘well’, ‘you know’, ‘I mean’, or ‘by the way’ can be included among the signals that are employed to keep the discourse segments of speech in synch. DMs are linguistic expressions that are drawn from various classes rather than forming a syntactic class. Discourse markers, according to Schiffrin (1987), are a subset of a larger study of discourse coherence, or how speakers and listeners blend forms, meanings, and actions to make sense of what is said
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